In previously known rotors that have a rotor head, at least one rotor blade, and a rotor-head-side rotor-blade connector, adjustment of the blade angle of the rotor blade is accomplished via a discrete bearing or via a torsionally soft element, with the aid of a rather complex, heavy adjustment mechanism that, as a rule, possesses at least one blade adjustment lever, a linkage, a swashplate, and at least one actuator for actuation of the mechanism. The aforesaid torsionally soft element is usually used in so-called bearingless rotors in combination with a so-called control bag. The torsionally soft element extends inside the control bag, which, in order to introduce a torque necessary for blade angle adjustment, is joined nonrotatably to the torsionally soft element at a distal end region thereof, i.e. facing toward a rotor-blade tip. For adequate torsional softness and in order to achieve a sufficiently large blade adjustment angle, the torsionally soft element and the control bag must be made relatively long. These components therefore occupy quite a large percentage of the rotor blade length, which is then no longer available for an aerodynamically effective profile of the rotor blade. Conventional bearingless rotors are moreover embodied in flapwise-soft fashion, which is disadvantageous for certain rotor types, for example tilting rotors (tiltrotors) that are utilized in tiltrotor helicopters or tiltrotor aircraft.
Whereas in conventional helicopters the rotation speed is kept relatively constant during operation and the blade angle is adjusted collectively or cyclically, it may be necessary in certain applications, e.g. for tiltrotor helicopters or tiltrotor aircraft, to adjust the blade angle of rotor blades or propellers as a function of rotation speed. In a tilting rotor, for example, in so-called aircraft mode the rotation speed is decreased and at the same time the blade angle is set to be steeper, while in so-called helicopter mode the rotation speed is increased and the blade angle is set to be flatter. The adjustment mechanisms and control and/or regulation devices necessary for this are, however, very complicated and weight-intensive and, because of the required coupling between a rotating and a stationary part of the adjustment mechanism, moreover must be accomplished via the interface of a swashplate, which is very complex in terms of control engineering and design.